It is not just India who will have to deal with the absence of injured Jasprit Bumrah at the Champions Trophy. With the tournament coming at the fag end of a long season, several teams are missing out on key players with world champions Australia being the worst affected. Here is a look at who are the players missing out from the Champions Trophy which is scheduled to begin on February 19.
Soon after they announced the provisional squad, they were facing plenty of injury concerns. And all of it has come true with their entire frontline pace pack which includes their captain Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood are ruled out with injuries. And to make it worse fellow speedster Mitchell Starc has withdrawn from the tournament citing personal reasons. It is a huge blow for a team that hasn’t won a match in the last two editions of the Champions Trophy with the last win being in the final of the 2009 edition. Apart from the fast bowler, Australia are also without their all-rounder Mitchell Marsh — who is also injured and Marcus Stoinis who announced shock retirement last week.
In Cummins absence, Steve Smith has been named captain. Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Spencer Johnson and Tanveer Sangha have been included in the reversed squad.
Full squad: Steve Smith (capt), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa.
South Africa
For a team that ended up with three heartbreaks in ICC events last year, the Champions Trophy provided a perfect opportunity to end the jinx. If they have to do so, the Proteas will have to make do without pacer Anrich Nortje and Gerald Coetzee who will the tournament because of injury. While Coetzee was injured before the provisional squad was announced, in place of Nortje South Africa have named 30-year-old seam bowling all-rounder Corbin Bosch.
Full squad: Temba Bavuma (capt), Corbin Bosch , Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen.
Afghanistan
For Afghanistan, which made the semifinals of the T20 World Cup last year, the Champions Trophy will be their maiden outing. And placed in the group that includes England, Australia and South Africa, they will miss the young spin bowling sensation AM Ghazanfar because of a fracture in the L4 vertebra. The 18-year-old who bowls off-spin has been generating plenty of interest from T20 franchises across the globe and was expected to form a lethal partnership with Rashid Khan & Co.
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Full squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Ibrahim Zadran, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah (vice-capt), Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Fareeh Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Nangeyalia Kharote, Naveed Zadran, Noor Ahmad.
In a spot of bother
Two other teams are also sweating over the availability of two key players. New Zealand are keeping a close eye on opener Rachin Ravindra who was hit by the ball under floodlights and needed stitches. He has been ruled out of the ongoing tri-series in Pakistan, but is expected to be fit for the later stages of the Champions Trophy.
Pakistan, meanwhile, are keeping their fingers crossed over Haris Rauf. The pacer walked away after bowling just 6.2 overs in their opening match against New Zealand, which they lost. Pakistan aren’t pressing for a replacement as yet in the hope he will regain fitness by the time the tournament commences.
